Unscrambler



p 1 65 1 F. MANN 3,208,577

UNSCRAMBLER Filed Aug. 25, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIIIIIHIIJIIIIH IN V EN TOR.

FREEMAN MANN ATTORNEYS Sept. 28, 1965 F. MANN 3,208,577

UNS CRAMBLER Filed Aug. 25, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FREEMAN MANN ATTORNE YS 0berlmmakgllommllg Sept. 28, 1965 F. MANN 3,208,577

UNSCRAMBLER Filed Aug. 25, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 6 3 INVENTOR.

FREEMAN MANN Oberlin, muky Domdlg ATTORNEYS Sept. 28, 1965 F. MANN UNSCRAMBLER 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 25, 1961 I98 J Y FIG IO "M2119 ATTORNEYS Sept. 28, 1965 F. MANN 3,208,577

UNSCRAMBLER Filed Aug. 25, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

FREEMAN MANN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,208,577 UNSCRAMBLER Freeman Mann, Waterville, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, t0 Production Machinery Corporation, Mentor, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 133,926 8 Claims. (Cl. 198-29) -This invention relates generally, as indicated, to an unscrambler and more particularly to a machine adapted to receive a load of billets, bars, blooms, etc. and transform such load into a single layer wherein each object is spaced from the other to facilitate subsequent handling thereof.

It is, needless to say, an extremely diflicult problem properly to handle extremely heavy and large billets, bars, blooms or the like which may be as much as 30 or 40 feet in length and, for example, 8 inches square. Such objects are generally handled by overhead cranes of large capacity which transfer such objects in large bundles or loads weighing as much as 20 tons, for example, and the problem of transforming such loads into a single layer of properly spaced blooms or billets can be extremely difficult.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide an unscrambler which will quickly and conveniently transform a bundle of such objects into a single properly spaced layer.

It is another main object to provide such an unscrambler which can be operated to straighten and separate such objects without the :aid of an externally operated device such as an overhead crane.

It is a further object to provide an unscrambler which will be completely automatic in operation quickly and conveniently transforming such bundle of objects into a single layer properly spaced to a predetermined distance.

It is a still further object to provide an unscrambler which can be operated in such a manner that stock placed thereon can easily be straightened, spaced the desired distance, and fed therefrom at the desired rate.

It is still another object to provide an unscrambler for such extremely heavy objects made of relatively few inexpensive parts which will yet be sufficiently rugged to handle objects of the nature involved.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an unscrambler in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of such unscrambler taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the unscrambler of FIG. 1 as seen from the top thereof;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a slightly modified somewhat smaller unscrambler;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section of such unscrambler taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an end elevation of the unscrambler of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an end elevation of a slightly modified form of unscrambler showing a pivotally mounted conveyor load section;

FIG. 8 is an end elevation of an unscrambler illustrat- Patented Sept. 28, 1965 ing the employment of vertically movable conveyor frame sections to straighten objects tumbling from one conveyor to the next;

FIG. 9 is an alternative form of straightener illustrating a vertically selectably movable stop against which the load may be straightened;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary top plan view illustrating the manner of straightening the load by lifting the leading skewed end of an object until the opposite end catches up;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 1111 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an end elevation of another form of unscrambler utilizing rack and pinion operated spring loaded conveyor dogs;

FIG. 13 is an end elevation of a further form of unscrambler utilizing walking beams as the conveyor sections; and

FIG. 14 is a slightly modified walking beam unscrambler utilizing different support means for the walking beams.

Referring now to the annexed drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a preferred form of unscrambler in accordance with the present invention. As seen in FIG. 3, the unscrambler is mounted on the shop floor 1 on three longitudinally extending frames 2, 3 and 4 which rearwardly terminate in upstanding guide columns 5, 6 and 7. The frame sections 2, 3 and 4 are connected by transversely extending I-be-am frame members 9, 10, 11 and 12 to form a unitary and rigidified frame structure for the unscrambler. Each of the longitudinally extending frames 2, 3 and 4 houses independently driven chain conveyors 15, 16 and 17, the top flights of which are supported for horizontal movement on recessed runways in the stepped top surfaces of each of the frames 2, 3 and 4. Thus, for example, the frame 2 is provided with a top support surface 18 which cooperates with the support surfaces 19 and 20 of the frames 3 and 4 respectively to form a conveyor load section. The conveyor chain 15 is exposed above the top surface 18 whereby the billets or workpieces will be supported on the chains in the respective frames for movement with the chains being thus supported by the frames. Similarly, the frame 3 is provided with conveyor chains 21, 22 and 23 with only the top horizontal flights thereof being exposed to contact the workpieces and support the same for movement in the direction of the arrow 24. In like manner, the frame 4 is provided with three conveyor chains 25, 26 and 27 exposed only through the top surface of the frame to the workpieces.

It is noted that the top frame surfaces 18, 19 and 20 provide a conveyor section which may be termed a crane load section on which the load or bundle of billets will initially be placed. The next adjacent conveyor sections formed by the conveyors 16, 22 and 26 supported on the surfaces 30, 31 and 32 are at a slightly lower elevation than the crane load conveyor section and are separated from the crane load conveyor section by a series of steps 34, 35 and 36 transversely aligned in the machine. The intermediate or unscrambler conveyor section provided by the chains 16, 22 and 26 may similarly be separated from the next succeeding conveyor chains 17, 21 and 25,

supported on surfaces 38, 39 and 40 respectively, by steps 41, 42 and 43. It will thus be seen that the unscrambler is comprised of a conveyor section composed of the chain conveyors 18, 19 and 20 on which the load of billets is placed, an unscrambler section comprised of the chain conveyors 16, 22 and 26 and a separating or final conveyor section composed of the conveyors 17, 21 and 25. The unscrambling and separating actions of the intermediate and final conveyor sections is obtained by driving the intermediate and final conveyor sections at successively higher speeds. For example, the crane load conveyor section may be driven at a speed of 1 inch per minute. This speed will, however, be established to deliver the complete crane load to the second and lower or final chain conveyor at the rate desired to deliver the objects from the unscrambler to the next processing machine. The intermediate or unscrambler conveyor section may, for example, be driven at four times the speed of the crane load or base speed and the final or separating section may be driven at ten times the base speed of the crane load section.

To obtain this drive, each of the conveyor sections is provided with respective drive motors 50, 51 and 52. Such motors are preferably reversible and drive the respective conveyor sections through variable speed drives 53, 54 and 55. The chain drive output of each of these variable speed drives is employed to drive gears or sprockets 57, 58 and 59 respectively, which sprockets are keyed to shafts 60, 61 and 62, such shafts extending in bearings in the frames 2, 3 and 4 entirely transversely through the unscrambler. provided with three small drive sprockets as shown at 64, 65 and 66 which are connected by chain drives to the driven sprockets of each of the respective conveyor sections in each of the frames 2, 3 and 4 as shown at 68, 69 and 70. Each of the nine conveyors in the unscrambler will, of course, be provided with the idler sprocket as shown at 71, 72 and 73.

It can now be seen that billets or the like placed on the unscrambler on the crane load conveyor section will be moved therealong to tumble down the steps 34, 35 and 36, which tumbling action will reduce the load or group from a multiple layer load to a single layer load. The unscrambler conveyor section or intermediate conveyor section running at a higher speed, i.e. approximately four times the speed of the crane load section, will move the billets or other such objects away fast enough to permit the next tumble from the crane load conveyor section to enter the intermediate conveyor without ending up on top of the previously tumbled bars. In this manner, a layer of rather closely spaced billets or the like will be produced on the intermediate conveyor. As the bars or billets are moved away from the steps 34, 35 and 36 rather rapidly, they will be in a substantially single layer and as they tumble down the steps 41, 42 and 43 onto the separating conveyor sections, they will be moved away event faster from the steps 41, 42 and 43 to provide the requisite spacing of the billets. A suitable control platform will be provided adjacent the unscrambler whereby the operator will be provided with a clear view of the action of all of the conveyors and since the speeds thereof can closely be controlled, the desired unscrambling and separating action can readily be obtained.

In FIG. 1, there is illustrated a subsequent processing machine in the form of a schematic illustration of a roto blast machine 75 which may be fed by V-shape grooved conveyor rollers 76 which receive the billets, bars, blooms or the like from the unscrambler. In order to get such objects from the final or separating conveyor section onto the conveyor rollers 76, there are provided three transfer carriages 80, 81 and 82, the details of which can be seen more clearly in FIG. 2.

Each transfer carriage is provided laterally adjacent the respective frames 2, 3 and 4 and comprises a carriage frame 84 mounted on pivotally movable rail 85. The rail 85 may be in the form of an I-beam with the carriage 84 being provided with inwardly directed pairs of rollers 87 and 88 which fit between the top and bottom fianges of the rail 85. The outer or distal end of the carriage frame 84 is provided with a sawtooth type support 89 which in the illustrated embodiment is adapted to support square cross section billets or blooms in each of the V- shape notches 90 therein. These notches correspond roughly to the notches 91 in the conveyor rollers 76 and Such shafts are each are adapted to support such square section elongated stock as shown at S in FIG. 3. If the stock is of the cross sectional shape size shown in FIG. 3, stock will readily fit in each of the grooves provided in the conveyor rollers 76. However, should a larger cross sectional size bloom or billet be unscrambled as shown at S, it will readily be understood that the stock will fit only in every other notch of the conveyor rolls. For this reason, the larger size stock must be positioned on the conveyor rolls 76 accordingly and this can readily be accomplished by the use of the carriage with the sawtooth type supports 89 thereon. Movement of the carriage along the track is obtained by a piston-cylinder assembly 93, the rod 94 of which is connected to the carriage at 95. The cylinder may be anchored to the rear end of the rail 85 as shown at 96. Controlled actuation of such piston-cylinder assembly can selectively position anyone of the five notches shown in the illustrated embodiment in position to receive stock tumbling from the separating conveyor section. With such large size sectional stock, the stock can then be placed in the notches A, B and C. When the stock is thus positioned, the piston-cylinder assembly 93 will be completely extended until the three notches are vertically aligned with the notches D, E and F on the conveyor rolls 76 and retraction of the rail supporting piston-cylinder assembly 98 then pivots the rail about pivot 99 to lower the stock supported by the carriage onto the conveyor rolls 76. In the embodiment illustrated, the pivoting of the rail and thus the carriage supported thereby about the pivot 99 will deposit the stock first in the groove D then in the groove E and finally the stock in the groove F. As soon as the stock is supported by the conveyor rolls, it will be removed from the unscrambler at a predetermined relatively high speed in a direction normal to the direction of movement of the stock on the unscrambler. It will, of course, be understood that instead of the pivotally mounted rail 85 illustrated, a rail which can be moved in parallelism vertically may be provided so that the workpieces will simultaneously be supported on the conveyor rolls for movement from the unscrambler.

The conveying of the stock from the machine on the rolls 76 may, for example, be accomplished at 65 feet per minute and the speed of the unscrambler can be adjusted accordingly.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, there is illustrated a further form of the present invention which may be adapted to handling blooms, billets, bars or the like of somewhat smaller size and such unscrambler comprises frames 100 and 101 similar in form to the frames 2, 3 and 4 of the FIG. 1 embodiment. Each of the frames may be mounted on pairs of columns 102, 103 and 104 with various I-beams 105 extending transversely between such frames serving to provide a completely rigid frame to support the workpieces on the conveyor sections supported thereby. As in the FIG. 1 embodiment, drive motors 106, 107 and 108 may be employed to drive the respective conveyor section through variable speed drives 109, 110 and 111. These drives rotate sprockets 112, 113 and 114 keyed to transverse shafts 115, 116 and 117. Drive sprockets on these transverse shafts then drive the drive sprockets of the respective conveyors as shown at 119, 120 and 121. Accordingly, in the respective frames, there will be provided three conveyor sections each driven through the transverse shafts and it is noted that each of the conveyor sections is stepped down and is somewhat shorter than the preceding conveyor section so that the first two conveyor chains 122 and 123 driven by the shaft 115 will comprise the crane load section on which the group or bundle of billets or the like will be placed to be tumbled down steps 124 and 125 onto the unscrambler section comprised of conveyor chains 126 and 127 driven by the shaft 116 at a somewhat higher rate of speed. The stock on these conveyors will then tumble down steps 128 and 129 onto the separating conveyor section comprised of conveyor chains 130 and 131 driven by the shaft 117. The separating conveyor will be driven at a higher speed than the unscrambler conveyor section which will be driven at a 'higher speed than the crane load section. The stock will then tumble off the end of the frames as shown at the beveled portions 132 and 133 to drop onto grooved conveyor rollers 134 to be conveyed in a path normal to the path of the unscrambler into a subsequent blast or process machine 135. Such discharge conveyor for the unscrambler will be driven at a substantial rate of speed in that the length of billets must be cleared from the rollers 134 before the next billet can be discharged thereon. As seen in FIGS. 4 and 6, a backstop may be provided for each of the springs as shown at 138 and 139. Each of the bloom or like backstops may be comprised of an upstanding column 148 having a diagonal brace 141 supporting such column and a guide plate 142 secured to the top of the column to guide the bloom or like object tumbling from the end of the unscrambler to be supported on the rolls 134. In this embodiment, only one workpiece at a time will be discharged from the unscrambler to be fed to the subsequent processing unit 135. Since the various conveyor sections may be controlled accurately by the operator, the machine may be operated whereby the bundle of billets will be unscrambled and separated to be discharged continuously to be carried away on the power driven conveyor rollers 134. Whereas the FIG. 4 embodiment may be designed to handle billets from 12 to 17 feet long and of a square cross section of from 2 x 2 to 4 x 4 inches square, the FIG. 1 embodiment may handle billets up to 30 feet in length with its three unscrambler frame sections and it will, of course, be understood that other arrangements of an unscrambler are possible which would include even more frame sections to handle even longer bars, billets or blooms.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a slightly modified unscrambler employing a crane load section having a pivotally mounted load receiving device at the entry end thereof as shown at 150. The unscrambler itself will be otherwise identical in form to the unscramblers shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 4 with the end column 151 which supports the end of the crane load section 152 also pivotally supporting a cradle 150 comprised of column 153 and beam 154. It will, of course, be understood that the number of columns in the cradle will correspond to the number of parallel frames in the unscrambler and there will be a corresponding number of beams. Each of the beams may be pivoted to a shaft 155 extending through brackets 156 secured to the tops of the columns 151. The columns 153 and beams 154 may be secured together and a gusset plate 157 or the like may be provided further rigidifying such structure. The bed frame members 158 of the unscrambler are each provided with an upstanding foot member 159 adapted to support the bottoms of the columns 153 in the position of the cradle shown in FIG. 7. One or more piston-cylinder assemblies 160, the rods thereof pivotally connected to the beams 154 as shown at 161, are provided to pivot the cradle from the full line to the dotted line position shown.

In this manner, a load of billets, blooms or the like may be positioned in the cradle in the crotch between the columns and the beams as shown at 162 and extension of the rods of the piston-cylinder assemblies will pivot the beams about the axis 155 to cause the blooms, billets or the like to slide down the now inclined beams onto the unscrambler crane load conveyor section 152. Selective operation of the piston-cylinder assemblies will cause all or part of the load 162 to be deposited on the crane load section 152. Thus the operator may have a load placed directly upon the unscrambler crane load section 152 and 'while the load thereon is being unscrambled, the overhead crane operator may place an additional load in the cradle 150 as shown at 162. Placing of the load against the columns 153 automatically squares the load so that the elongated bars, billets, blooms or the like extend normal to the path of the unscrambler. At the first load of workpieces moves from the crane load section 152 to the unscrambler section 163 and then to the even higher speed separating section 164 to discharge conveyor 165, the operator can replace the load by tilting the cradle to supply further workpieces to the crane load section 152. In this manner, the overhead crane will be freed for other operations within the plant.

When the crane operator places a crane load on the crane load section, billets, blooms or the like are often placed at an angle other than normal to the path of the unscrambler or the path of intended billet travel. Should this condition occur, the leading or forward end of the billet would reach the faster moving conveyors first and be advanced even more out of the desired normal relationship.

Referring now to FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11, there is illustrated at least three means by which the load or a billet can be squared to extend normal to the path of the unscrambler. In FIG. 8, the unscrambler is provided with frames having adjustable side rails 168 and 169 which are mounted in vertically extending guides 170, 171, 172 and 173. The bottom edges of each of the rails 168 .and 169 is inclined and in contact with the inclined top surface of wedge actuators 174 and 175 which ride for horizontal movement in guide rails 176 and 177 respectively. The wedges are mounted for horizontal movement in the respective guide rails and such movement is accomplished by piston-cylinder assemblies 178 and 179, the rods of which are connected to the wedge actuators. As seen in FIGS. 8, l0 and 11, a workpiece W which is moving along the crane load section 180 in a skew manner will tumble over the step 181 in the manner indicated. Thus the leading end of the workpiece wi-ll tumble over the step first while the trailing end is still resting on the conveyor chain of the crane load section on the opposite side. When the operator sees that such a condition exists, he will retract the piston-cylinder assembly 178 to raise the rail 168 which will cause the leading edge of the leading end of the workpiece W to be elevated above the unscrambler conveyor chain 182. This will halt further forward movement of the leading edge of the workpiece W While not precluding the normal movement of the trailing end and in this manner, the trailing end of the workpiece will catch up swinging the workpiece to a position normal to the path of travel of the workpieces on the unscrambler. As soon as the workpiece is in such normal position, the operator will extend the piston-cylinder assembly 178 to retract the rail 168 permitting the workpiece to drop upon the conveyor chain 182 and normal travel of the workpiece will continue. If a workpiece should tumble from the unscrambler conveyor section 183 :onto the separating section 184 in such skewed manner, the rails 169 may be actuated by the piston-cylinder assemblies 179 again to straighten the workpiece prior to its discharge onto conveyor 185.

In FIG. 9, there is illustrated a further form of workpiece aligning mechanism that may be employed with the present invention, such aligning mechanism comprising vertically movable stops 188 positioned at the end of the crane load section 189, such stops being mounted on the piston rods 190 of piston-cylinder assemblies 191. In this manner, when the operator sees a workpiece on a crane load section which is misaligned or not normal to the path of travel of the unscrambler, the stops 188 may be elevated to engage the workpiece. With the stops holding the leading edge of the workpiece, the conveyor chain 192 will slide under the workpiece until the workpiece contacts both of the stops on the opposite sides of the unscrambler to cause the workpiece to extend normal to the path of the unscrambler. When the workpiece is thus aligned, the stops may be retracted by the piston-cylinder assemblies and such workpiece will proceed through the unscrambler. Similarly, the stops may be provided at the end of the unscrambler section 193 or the separating section 194.

A further means of aligning the workpieces on the unscrambler to extend normal to the path of the unscrambler is the reversible drives for each of the chains of the conveyor sections. In referring to FIG. 9, for example, if the chains 192 of the crane load section 189 are driven in a reverse direction, the workpieces thereon will be driven against the columns 195 and such columns will act in a manner similar to the stops 188 aligning the Workpieces properly on the unscrambler. When the workpieces are thus aligned, the chain drive may be reversed to proceed through the normal cycle of operation of the unscrambler. It is noted that the column 195 is provided with a beveled top 196 which will facilitate the placing of the crane load upon the unscrambler on the crane load section. Similarly, the chains 197 and 198 of the unscrambler and separating sections may be reversed to cause the workpieces thereon to be driven backwardly against the respective steps 199 and 200 to square the workpieces thereon. When the workpieces are thus extending normal to the path of the unscrambler the drive may be reversed again to drive the workpieces in the normal manner. The columns 5, 6 and 7 in the FIG. 1 embodiment as well as the columns 102 in the FIG. 4 embodiment may be used for a similar purpose simply by reversing the drive of the crane load section. It will, of course, be understood that the adjustable rails shown in the FIGS. 8, 10 and 11 embodiments may be driven hydraulically as shown or mechanically by a gear hydraulic motor or other similar device. Likewise, the stops 188 may similarly be elevated by hydraulic or mechanical means.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated an unscrambler in accordance with the present invention employing a different type of conveyor. Each of the conveyor frames 210 is provided with three horizontally movable conveyor bars 211, 212 and 213 which are provided with receding spring actuated dogs 214. The dogs 214 on the reciprocating bar 211 in the crane load section are spaced substantially apart and the dogs 214 on the unscrambler section bar 212 are spaced relatively closer together and the dogs 214 on the separating section reciprocating bar 213 are even closer together. Each of the bars is provided with a downwardly extending rack as shown at 215, 216 and 217 respectively which engages respective pinions 218, 219 and 22%). Pinion 218 is driven by rod 221 operated by piston-cylinder assembly 222. The rack is supported on roller 223 holding the rack in meshing engagement with the pinion 218. It can now be seen that reciprocation of the piston-cylinder assembly will actuate the bar 211 for horizontal movement and the dogs 214 will engage the various bundles of billets or the like to slide them along the crane load section of the frames 210. When the bars 211 are retracted, the spring loaded dogs will duck under the loads and automatically pop up on the return stroke. The size of the pinion 218 and the rack can be selected to provide a mechanical advantage and also to provide any desired frequency of reciprocation. As the bundles tumble over the step 224, they will be distributed in a single layer to be engaged by the dogs 214 on the bars 212. Such bars are actuated by piston-cylinder assembly 225 driving racks 226 in engagement with pinions 219. Again a roller may be employed to support the rack in driving engagement with the pinion. Any frequency of reciprocation of the bar 212 in the unscrambler section will be higher than that of the frequency in the crane load section and as the bars, billets or the like tumble over the steps 227, they will be engaged by the dogs 214 of the bars 213 which are driven by piston-cylinder assemblies 228 driving racks 229 also supported by rollers in driving engagement with the pinion 220. Frequency of reciprocation will be even higher here than in the unscrambler section and the work will be tumbled off the final step 230 onto discharge conveyor 231. The increasing frequency of reciprocation of the conveyor bars may be on the same order as the speed of the chains of the FIGS. 1 and 4 embodiments. Preferably, the bars 211 will be driven at a base cycle speed and the bars 212 will be driven at five times the base cycle speed and the bars 213 at twelve times the base cycle speed. In this manner, bundles of billets placed on the inclined top surface 232 of the columns 233 as well as on the crane load section will be tumbled over the steps 224 to be placed in a single layer and the single layer will be picked up and tumbled over the steps 227 to be separated by the relatively high speed conveyor bar 213.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is shown an unscrambler comprised of the stationary frames 235 having the steps 236 and 237 between the crane load sections, the unscrambler sections and the separating sections. Adjacent each of the stationary frames or beams 235, there is provided three walking beams 238, 239 and 240. The walking beams 238 for the crane load section are mounted on eccentrics 241 at one end and pivotally mounted links 242 at the opposite end. Similarly the beams 239 are mounted on eccentrics 243 at one end and links 244 at the opposite end. It is noted that the unscrambler walking beams 239 are considerably shorter in length than the crane load section beams 238. The separating section beams 240 are similarly mounted on eccentrics 245 at one end and links 246 at the opposite end. The link 242 of the crane load section beams may be mounted on a pedestal 247 and the eccentric 241 of such crane load section beams and the links 244 of the unscrambler section beams may be mounted on a stepped column 248. A similar step column is employed to support the eccentrics 243 and the links 246 as shown at 249. It is noted that the top surface of the stationary beams for each of the various conveyor sections as provided by the stationary frame 235 slopes downwardly to facilitate the forward movement of the workpieces due to the walking beam action of the various eccentrically mounted beams. Such beams will be mounted in a manner that the eccentric action will lift the loads placed thereon and move them forward through a short stroke. The rear ends of the beams will be moved through a short arcuate oscillation provided by the links 242, 244 and 246 respectively. Each of the walking beam-stationary beam conveyors may be driven at successively higher speeds with the unscrambler conveyor being driven at approximately four times the crane load section conveyor and similarly the separating section conveyor may be driven at approximately ten times the crane load section conveyor.

FIG. 14 illustrates a slightly modified form of walking beam type unscrambler wherein the beams 250, 251 and 252 are mounted on eccentrics 253, 254 and 255 at the discharge end of each section and on rollers 256, 257 and 258 at the opposite ends of each beam. The lower edges of the beams may be provided with wear plates 259, 260 and 261 to support the beams on the rollers for the shuttling horizontal movement provided by the opposite end eccentrics. The motion obtained in the FIG. 14 embodiment will be slightly different than that obtained in the FIG. 13 embodiment in that the rear end of the walking beams will move substantially horizontally on top of the roller supports whereas the rear ends of the beams in the FIG. 13 embodiment will move through an arcuate oscillating path, the radius of which is governed by the radius of the links 242, 244 and 246. In any event in either the FIG. 13 or FIG. 14 embodiment, the successive conveyor sections provided in the stepped down steps of the unscrambler will be driven at successively higher speeds so that the bundles placed on the crane load sections will be tumbled into a single layer on the unscrambler section as it drops over the first step and the further increasing speed of the separating section will serve to separate the single layer to place the workpieces on the conveyor rollers to be discharged from the unscrambler in a plane normal to that of FIGS. 13

and 14. It will, of course, be understood that in all of the embodiments of the present invention, the spacing of the workpieces in the separating section of the unscrambler will be a function of the speed of discharge of the discharge conveyor.

It can now be seen that there is provided an unscrambler of a simplified construction which will readily take a bundle of billets, blooms, etc. and transform such blooms into a single layer and then into a separated single layer for ultimate discharge to a further processing mechanism. Moreover, the unscrambler of the present invention lends itself readily to such improvements as the billet cradle of FIG. 7 or the aligning mechanisms disclosed in FIGS. 8 through 11. Furthermore, with independent speed and reversibility controls for each of the conveyor sections, it is possible for one man to control the discharge and alignment of such objects from each of the conveyor sections and the rate of discharge of such objects from the unscrambler.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. An unscrambler for elongated objects and the like comprising a first conveyor section adapted to receive a load of elongated objects, drive means for said first conveyor section, a second conveyor section adapted to receive such objects from said first conveyor section and vertically spaced beneath said first conveyor section, drive means for said second conveyor section driving said second conveyor section at a higher speed than said first conveyor section, step means between said first and second conveyor sections adapted to tumble such objects from said first to said second conveyor section, a third conveyor section adapted to receive objects from said second conveyor section vertically spaced beneath said second conveyor section, drive means for said third conveyor section driving said third conveyor section at a higher speed than said second conveyor section, step means interconnecting said second and third conveyor sections adapted to tumble objects from said second to said third conveyor section, said conveyor sections comprising endless chains with the top flight thereof being supported for horizontal movement to support such objects thereon.

2. An unscrambler for elongated heavy objects comprising a plurality of horizontally distinct chain conveyor means each driven at a successively increasing speed, means connecting each said conveyor means adapted to tumble workpieces supported thereon from one conveyor means to the next, and means adjacent the end of at least one conveyor means adapted to align the objects supported thereby to extend normal to the paths of said conveyor means.

3. An unscrambler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said last mentioned means comprises selectively vertically extensible stop means adapted to engage such objects before they tumble from said first to the next conveyor section.

4. An unscrambler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said last mentioned means comprises vertically extensible side frame means adjacent the leading edge of at least one conveyor means adapted to receive the leading end of such object tumbling from the preceding conveyor means in a skew fashion to lift the leading end of such object from the conveyor means whereby the other end of such object will catch up.

5. An unscrambler as set forth in claim 4 wherein said vertically extensible side frame means comprises a pair of side rails having inclined bottom edges, wedge actuator means disposed beneath said side rails and in engagement therewith, and means operative horizontally to reciprocate said wedge actuator means vertically to move said side rails.

6. An unscrambler comprising a series of power driven conveyor chains with successive conveyor chains being driven at increasing speeds, means mounting successive conveyor chains at a lower elevation than the preceding conveyor chain, step means interconnecting said conveyor chains to tumble objects supported thereby from one conveyor to the next whereby a load of objects placed upon the first conveyor section will be unscrambled into a single layer and separated from each other for subsequent processing, carriage means adapted to receive the objects coming from said unscrambler to deposit the same in a predetermined spaced relation on a conveyor extending normal to the discharge path of said unscrambler, and means horizontally to shuttle said carriage means and vertically to move said carriage means to deposit such objects on such transversely extending conveyor.

7. An unscrambler as set forth in claim 6 wherein said car-riage means is mounted for movement along a pivotally mounted rail, said unscrambler further including means for moving said carriage means along said rail, and means for pivoting said rail and thus said carriage means supported thereby.

8. An unscrambler for elongated heavy objects comprising a plurality of horizontally distinct chain conveyor means each driven at a successively increasing speed, means connecting each said conveyor means adapted to tumble workpieces supported thereon from one conveyor means to the next, an object load section adjacent the leading end of said unscrambler, said object load section comprising a pivotally mounted cradle means for receiving objects therein, and means operative to pivot said cradle means to cause such objects to slide onto said conveyor means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,160,792 11/15 Van Houten 198-34 1,456,858 5/23 Part-ridge 19876 X 1,889,039 11/ 32 Quinn 198-29 2,362,677 11/44 Stephens 198-76 2,597,944 5/52 Morgan 198-29 2,679,919 6/54 Koning 19834 2,762,488 9/56 Rendleman 19829 2,781,120 2/57 Heiden 198-29 2,828,917 4/58 Wheeler et al 198-34 X 2,999,603 9/ 61 Smejda 198-34 X 3,019,882 2/62 Pearson 198-34 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

JULIUS E. WEST, WILLIAM B. LA BORDE,

ROBERT B. REEVES, Examiners. 

1. AN UNSCRAMBLER FOR ELONGATED OBJECTS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING A FIRST CONVEYOR SECTION ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A LOAD OF ELONGATED OBJECTS, DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID FIRST CONVEYOR SECTION, A SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SUCH OBJECTS FROM SAID FIRST CONVEYOR SECTION AND VERTICALLY SPACED BENEATH SAID FIRST CONVEYOR SECTION, DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION DRIVING SAID SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION AT A HIGHER SPEED THAN SAID FIRST CONVEYOR SECTION, STEP MEANS BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND CONVEYOR SECTIONS ADAPTED CONVEYOR SECTION, A THIRD FROM SAID FIRST TO SAID SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION, A THIRD CONVEYOR SECTION ADAPTED TO RECEIVE OBJECTS FROM SAID SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION VERTICALLY SPACED BENEATH SAID SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION, DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID THIRD CONVEYOR SECTION DRIVING SAID THIRD CONVEYOR SECTIONAT A HIGHER SPEED THAN SAID SECOND CONVEYOR SECTION, STEP MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID SECOND AND THIRD CONVEYOR SECTIONS ADAPTED TO TUMBLE OBJECTS FROM SAID SECOND TO SAID THIRD CONVEYOR SECTION, SAID CONVEYOR SECTIONS COMPRISING ENDLESS CHAINS WITH THE TOP FLIGHT THEREOF BEING SUPPORTED FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT SUCH OBJECTS THEREON. 